Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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A month of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi will cost a Medicare drug plan $7,004 in January instead of $13,480
Astellas Pharma has agreed to sell Xtandi, one of the most widely used prostate cancer drugs on the market, to Medicare drug plans for $7,004 for a 30-day supply starting in January 2027. That’s down from the $13,480 the same supply cost at list price in 2024, a discount of 48 percent. The new number…
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Cage-free eggs are advertised at $3.07 a dozen while conventional eggs go for $1.36
Grocery shoppers scanning the egg case this week are looking at one of the widest price gaps between egg types tracked in recent months. Federal market researchers who survey supermarket advertising nationwide found conventional caged eggs on sale for $1.36 a dozen this week, while cage-free barn and aviary eggs carrying the UEP-certified label were…
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A hospital that fails to post its real prices can be fined more than $2 million in a year, and the government names it
Hospitals have been required to post their real prices online since 2021, and for years the rule had a reputation for being toothless. It isn’t. Under federal regulation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can fine a single noncompliant hospital more than $2 million over a full year of violations, and it publishes the…
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The fifteen drugs Medicare negotiated for next year will cost it 44 percent less, a difference of about $12 billion
Medicare has finished bargaining over the price of 15 widely used prescription drugs, and the government now has a number to show for it. If the newly agreed-upon prices had applied during 2024, Medicare would have spent an estimated $12 billion less on those drugs, a 44 percent cut in net spending. The prices themselves…
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Metal tariffs now apply to the full price of an imported product, not just the metal inside it
A rule change that took effect in the spring is still shaping how much American businesses and households pay for imported metal goods. Since early April, tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper products haven’t been calculated off the value of the metal inside a product anymore. They’re calculated off the entire declared value of the…
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A federal watchdog traced $12.7 billion in suspected crypto romance scams
Federal regulators have put a number on one of the fastest-growing fraud problems in the country. On September 3, 2026, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released an analysis of suspicious-activity reports tied to crypto investment schemes, along with a fresh alert instructing banks and other financial firms on what to watch for. The…
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A Utah day trader got 15 years for taking $89 million from about 200 investors and buying a plane
A federal judge in St. George, Utah, sentenced Matthew Shane Perkins to 15 years in prison this month for a wire fraud scheme that pulled in at least $89 million from roughly 200 investors. Perkins built his pitch on a reputation as a “savant” trader who almost never had a losing day, and investors sent…
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A proposed federal rule would limit the taxes states charge hospitals to fund Medicaid, worth $246 billion over ten years
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a rule that would tighten how much states can tax hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers to help pay for Medicaid. CMS estimates the change would cut federal Medicaid spending by roughly $246 billion over the next ten years, mostly by closing financing arrangements…
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The letter telling a member their Medicare Advantage plan is ending has to arrive at least 90 days before it does
A federal rule most people never hear about until it affects them sets a hard floor on how much warning a Medicare Advantage member gets before their plan disappears. If an insurer decides not to renew its Medicare Advantage contract for the coming year, it cannot simply drop enrollees with a short heads-up. The notice…
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Brand-name medicines imported into the United States face a 100 percent tariff from September 29 unless the maker is building here
A tariff signed into law back in April is about to widen its reach. Under a presidential proclamation covering patented pharmaceuticals, most drug companies that haven’t lined up an approved plan to manufacture in the United States are now three weeks from paying a steep new duty on branded medicines and their ingredients when those…
